I ran the first 3 miles at comfortable pace, and then did 1 mile of tempo(the pace I’m hoping to run more often) pace. Followed by lots of squats and lunges.

Yesterday I spent the day doing laundry, grocery shopping, going to the bank, and getting my car washed. Typical Monday, but they are my favorite because I always feel so productive. When I got home my sister Bree and baby M were there. Seriously, I could take pictures of him all day.

J is not a very happy camper when he wakes up from naps(ahem, he takes after someone, ahem, me). But I want the memories of even his angry faces he makes at the age of 2.5.

That night, we had a family night about families. We all got to put a family member on our finger(including my parents=)) and teach J about how our family is eternal. We all had fun and ended the night with a yummy ice cream treat.

How I train to be faster at running

While my sister was over she was asking about how I got faster at running. It made me think about all the things I’ve done right and all the things I haven’t done right and I thought I’d share.

First off, I’m not super fast and I’m not a professional so what I’m sharing is just from my own personal experience.

What I Did Wrong

1. Start running too fast without a proper warm up- This caused a bad injury in my hamstring for a few weeks.

2. Didn’t train for a specific pace and then on race day just expected my body to be able to run it and I died-Ya, I know, crazy that your body won’t just run a sub 2 hour half unless you train for it. ha

3. Run every run at the fastest pace my body would handle- you will end up with a bad injury from doing this.

What I did Right After Learning from my Mistakes

1. Run a proper warm up before a speed workout. I do at least a half a mile warm up but usually a good mile is best.

2. Run/jog a cool down after a speed workout. The recovery is just as important as the run. Take a good 5 minutes to let your legs jog or walk to cool off. Foam roll, ice, rest if your legs are tired.

3. Run recovery runs throughout the week. Like I mentioned, if you run at the fastest pace possible every run your muscles/legs won’t have any time to recover and will cause injury. If I run a hard speed workout one day, the next I will either rest or run at a minute or two slower of a pace. So, if I run a tempo run at an 8:34 avg. pace, the next day I will run a 10 min avg pace run.

4. Don’t jump to a really fast speed too quickly. Build up to it. I took all winter off from any speed workout and built muscle by strength training and running shorter runs. Now that it’s spring, I’m building my mileage and speed slowly. For 2 weeks, I will run mid distance runs(for me) of about 4-6 miles a day and do 1-2 speed workouts a week depending on how my body feels.

These are my top tips for running faster.

what tips would you add?

do you wake up happy?

do you like taking naps?

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About Sugar Plum Runner

Welcome to the Sugar Plum Runner! I grew up in WA state, but currently reside in UT with my husband Josh, son Jackson, and 2 daughters Lily and Claire.
I love running, but I have never been so inspired to run, race, and blog about it since 4 years ago after I had Jackson. I grew up playing soccer and cheered in high school. My favorite part of both sports(and yes I consider cheer leading a sport) was the conditioning. I found myself running after practice was over on my own. That's when I realized that running may be the sport I really loved.

8 Responses to Tips to Running Faster

Omg, such an adorable baby! I really like these tips, especially the ones about balancing out hard and easy runs. Another thing I think I’d add is don’t increase speed and distance/mileage too much at the same time. I’ve been wanting to get faster as a runner so I think I’m going to be doing some shorter runs for awhile.

I’m having hamstring issues/have been for a month It’s feeling better than it has been, but it’s just SO TIGHT! And it’s frustrating. I am happy 96% of the time, so yes, I usually do wake up happy 🙂 and I LOVE naps!

I made the mistake of trying to run every run at my fastest speed too when I first started running. I think that’s someone everyone does.
In addition to foam rolling, and icing, I think it’s important to stretch and do at least some strength training all year long to keep common running injuries out of the equation (like ITBS). And never underestimate the value of core work- a strong core is very important for runners!

First of all I have to address the Lakers Jersey in the back. … breaks my heart a little but we can still be friends 😉
Secondly your legs look great!
Thirdly, I think making sure you add in a variety of speed workouts is essential. I know that really helped me during my training last year.